The Football Association have revealed the referee for the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Watford, which will take place on Saturday May 18.
Kevin Friend is the man in the middle for the final at Wembley and he will be joined by assistant referees Constantine Hatzidakis and Matthew Wilkes, while the fourth official will be Graham Scott. The reserve assistant referee is set to be Edward Smart.
VAR will be in use in the FA Cup final, with both Andre Marriner and Harry Lennard on duty at Stockley Park. But it will be
Friend said of the appointment: "As a referee, the FA Cup Final is the pinnacle of your career. When you start out you never dream that you’re going to get the chance to take charge of a cup final, so to get the call this year is just fantastic.
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"Every referee has goals and targets. There are certain games you want to be a part of and the FA Cup Final is definitely on that list. No matter what game it is, no referee can do it all on their own – it’s all about the team. This is a huge honour for us all and I’m really looking forward to it."
For Man City, the FA Cup could be the second part of a league and cup double as they travel to Brighton six days earlier to potentially confirm their retention of the Premier League title.
